Nurses taking Strike Action

It doesn't matter whether you think they're overpaid or not, if we don't do something to stop the deluge of nurses and other clinical staff leaving then we will have no functioning healthcare system pretty soon. That's the alternative. You might not want to pay for higher wages with your taxes but presumably you don't want to pay for private healthcare either?

wise up

@Toddlerteaplease So what's your plan then? Just hope the Government decides to value your skills?

Or do you have plenty of family money so don't really care about your income?

100% support from me, how long are they expected to take below inflation pay rises for? Eventually they will be working for free.


The " trust" I used to work for, after acheiving trust status, abandoned the agenda for change, introduced an actual pay CUT for staff. None of this was mentioned during the campaign to become a trust.

Anyone who can retire, does so.

Not all bad,the board running the trust got a 8% pay rise, backdated 3 years too.

Govt. have taken the piss too long.

No wonder we are short of nurses.

I started nursing in Australia and have been on strike there twice back home. The difference in pay and condition for nurses is huge between the two countries.
What I earn here as a nurse with 20 years experience and with a post graduate degree wouldn’t even be a entry level salary in Aus.
I earn £12.38 ph. (Plus London weighting) I love my job but currently looking at leaving to do agency instead as it’s not paying the bills.

As an NHS nurse I thank you all for your thoughts on our strike action. I was talking to a colleague about it yesterday, and she was saying it makes her feel physically sick. I am not sure where I stand yet, of course we will ensure no harm comes to patients however, every day harm is happening.

The condition in the NHS are dreadful for staff and patients. Strike action is an absolute last resort and honestly it's not really about the money, you have to want to do the job and most of us love it but, we are so understaffed it's making us physically and mentally ill. We cannot retain staff and we go home daily, fearing we will loose our pin number and about the patients we couldn't help.

I could and do cry about what I have seen and done because I am letting my patients down, end of life patients waiting for care because a septic patient will die without me and I cannot do everything.

The NHS is abused I could tell you many stories, patients are waiting longer for procedures, some are dying while they wait, some are so sick by the time they come in we have to really fight to save them and they stay in hospital for longer.

We are trying to do everything with literally nothing. The only way I get through is to shut myself down to do my job, I felt guilty yesterday as I sat with a dying man for 5 whole minutes all the while I had 100 other things I needed to do.
We get abuse physically and verbally daily, that includes management who are stressed. I am quite tough so I don't always take it personally but the new/younger staff do and it breaks them.

This is not the job I want, I always take the patients 'home' with me, those I have let down but, they are not the ones whose lives we save, it's the small things, time with dying patients and their family, talking to a lonely elderly person about their amazing life, or with someone who has been given bad news. I could weep for these people. They keep me up at night, but if I give up who will step in? We have record vacancies. My family take the brunt of my feelings of failure, and my days off are spent exhausted.

Any suggestions for how we get the Tories to listen without strike action would make alot of nurses very happy. This is an attempt to save the NHS it's much more complex than money.

The shortage of nurses in the nhs right now is crippling. Clearly the job needs to attract more to four and stay in it. If you want nurses working in this country, pay them accordingly.

same for all of those working in NHS- if you want an NHS

please note if you don’t want an nhs, you will be paying a fortune for any of your healthcare needs

Yes I absolutely support them

@Flapjacker48 I don't know yet. I am fairly comfortable. But I know some of my colleagues are not.

Sorry my typo

’…more to choose and stay…’

100% support for the nurses. Incredibly hard work physically but also mentally due to the levels of responsibility for peoples health. Also this presumption that nurse’s can routinely be abused throughout their working day by the public for reasons not caused by the staff, ie long waiting times. If these same levels of abuse were directed at staff in other workplaces such as shops or offices, the abuser would quite rightly be escorted off the premises or reported to the police, yet this sadly is routine for many nurses in this country and are not allowed to answer back. These are professional people who have studied at university to do this job, they deserve a lot more y than they are asking for. Good luck nurses, lots of us are right behind you. 😊

"Things are shit in the private sector therefore they should be shit everywhere" isn't the convincing argument you think it is.

I don't think the pay and conditions are great. However, I think the effect of strikes on the people who need other people not to be on strike is too great.

Someone else mentioned freelancers being envious. I think that's highly unlikely. I think there are huge swathes of people in this country doing ridiculous amounts of work for ridiculously little pay. Whoever thought i was trying to 'race to the bottom' couldn't be more wrong. My point is that when other people depend on you, you can't in all conscience go on strike. You will lose a lot of public sympathy if you do.

Well maybe you need to strike then…

No they don’t start at 27k at all

please note if you don’t want an nhs, you will be paying a fortune for any of your healthcare needs

We are paying for the NHS anyway. Yet we still can't see a GP, never mind have a hospital appointment. On balance, I'd rather not pay for the NHS and use that money to see someone when I need to see them.

Your opinion on their pay is worth zero. Market forces determine whether a job compensates well for the conditions and type of work. It is explicitly clear that the current nursing salary is nowhere near enough from the vacancies and staff shortages. If it was a good starting salary for the level of training, responsibility and workload, there would be more applicants than places and hospitals would be well staffed. The fact that they're not even close to safe staff levels with permanent staff speaks volumes compared to your ignorant little rant

we have been working under strike conditions for years, further impacted by COVID.
There are times where I leave work relieved that I made it to the end of the shift and no-one died. Working in ICU miserably understaffed (ratio meant to be 1:1 for the sickest patients, frequently seeing ratios of 1:2/3 for level 3 (most unwell) patients) puts patients at risk. I would be horrified if my family member was in critical care receiving multi-organ support and the nurse wasn't working exclusively.
The public also have a poor understanding of what a Registered Nurses role looks like now, especially the older generation, it has changed a lot over the years. More responsibility and accountability with less pay and protection.
Enough is enough.

Striking for better working conditions and pay will attract people to the profession, and keep them in post.
SAFE STAFFING SAVES LIVES!

@Emotionalmessy It's too low but the starting point for a Band 5 (post pay rise) is £27,055, of course associates etc get less but (in theory I know...) these post have less responsibility.

The RCN will write to you with what striking means. It normally means a Christmas Day level service, we have to ‘preserve life and limb’. The elective work will stop.

Nurses are striking because they are desperate and not listened to. The government know about the tens of thousands of vacancies and the thousands more to come. The government know about the harm caused to patients with the staffing levels we have. The government have refused, for MORE THAN A DECADE, to give nurses an inflation matched rise. The government won’t engage with talks. Nurses have no option but to withdraw their labour to force change. It doesn’t really matter whether the public support or not. Nurses are an essential workforce and the government will be forced to cave very quickly.

Those that are confused about how they feel by striking. Are you willing to put up with this shit forever? For yourselves or for your patients?

We won’t be failing our patients by striking. The government are. People are receiving poor care because of the government.